Bottlenose dolphins filmed playing around boat in Liverpool Bay

Bottlenose dolphins may be associated with more exotic climes but this stunning footage shows a pod happily playing off the coast of Liverpool.

The group came within inches of a boat on a fishing trip over the weekend in Liverpool Bay, delighting passengers by racing in front of the prow and leaping out the water.

Some dolphins even performed corkscrew turns in a dramatic display lasting several minutes.

Jay O'Neill, 26, said it was the "last thing" he expected to see on the trip on Saturday morning.

He told the Liverpool Echo: “We started heading back at about 2pm and then 30 of them came from nowhere.

"Two or three came close to the boat and were playing. It was amazing. It was the last thing we expected to see on the Mersey.

"It is very rare to see them. I don't think I ever will again.”

Thomas Johnson, 38, who filmed the dolphins, said the experience was "unbelievable".

They are not the only wildlife in Liverpool Bay, where porpoises and seals are also seen.

Common bottlenose dolphins are found around the British Isles, where they are considerably larger than the species in other parts of the world and reach up to 4m in length.

The largest groups in the UK are to be found in Cardigan Bay in Wales and the Moray Firth in Scotland, but dolphins are also seen in Dorset and around Cornwall.